


Taking Chances

by Caskettmyheart



Series: Little Carmilla AU's [3]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - All Media Types
Genre: Blind Carmilla AU, Blind!Carmilla, Carmilla/LaFontaine BROTP, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-14
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-04-20 19:54:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4800233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caskettmyheart/pseuds/Caskettmyheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every Saturday Laura goes to the library to study and notices a girl sitting on the steps doing something very peculiar. That girl is there nearly every Saturday to catch a whiff of her scent, trying to gather up the courage to talk to her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Rich Scent

Stunning. That was the only word her mind could form the first time she saw her. She looked absolutely stunning. The way her hair framed her face, the way the sunlight shone bright onto her dark locks and her even darker pants. Her skin was so light, a great contrast to her wardrobe. Though her looks were wonderful, it were her actions that intrigued her the most. The girl Laura was so openly staring at was moving her hands over the pages of a book in her lap. It was like she was feeling it.  
Laura’s head quirked to the side as she watched it more closely. Actually, the girl _was_ feeling the words. It was a book in Braille. Okay sure, the girl was wearing black sunglasses but she just figured they were to protect her eyes from the sun, or look cool. You never know these days, people wear them for all kinds of reasons. But it never occurred to her that it might be because she was blind. It wasn’t something you immediately think of when seeing a person. Though she seemed to look around at her surroundings while her fingers read the words. She was mouthing them along as she read them. If it wasn’t for the book in braille, you’d never know she was blind. Maybe that was the look she was going for?

Laura suddenly became very aware of her staring. She quickly averted her eyes up to the sky. A magnificent cloudy blue sky. A sky the dark haired girl probably didn’t see. She wanted her mind to focus on something – anything but the girl. Wasn’t it strange how a stranger could sometimes capture your attention just by existing?  
She remembered what she was doing right before the girl caught her attention and she faced back to the building she was heading for. She took two more steps up the stairs before glancing back towards the girl. Her hands stilled as Laura watched her. Her head moved a bit to the side and turned. Laura averted her eyes once again and wasted no time getting into the library. She didn’t want to be caught staring… Could she get caught by a blind woman? Was that a rude question to ask herself? Anyways, she didn’t want to take the chance and made her way up the steps and into the library.

That was the first time she ever noticed the stranger sitting on the library steps. Ever since then, she’d been seeing the girl more and more. She was there on her usual library visits on Saturday morning. People went partying on a Friday night so the library was pretty empty on a Saturday morning. She liked it. More space. More books. All to herself. Well, she and the dozen other people with free schedules on Friday nights.  
Sometimes she would go to the library on other days and the stranger would not be sitting there. Laura always frowned at that. It wasn’t like it made her sad, it just didn’t make her as happy as on the days she would come across her. She’d always run up the steps, slow down a bit whenever she saw her reading books in braille, and then move along into the library. For three months, this had been her routine. She had thought about stopping and introducing herself a couple of times, but she had reconsidered every time she laid eyes on her. She had no chance with her anyways.

\--

Carmilla sat in her usual spot on the library steps, like every Saturday for the past few weeks. It was starting to get colder but she loved this spot. She refused to let the slowly approaching winter cold get the best of her. Her fingers were freezing with the icy wind but she always had cold hands either way so she was used to it. Her fingers were reading the words on the paper in her lap as she listened to her surroundings. People were slowly making their way up and down the steps around her. Some wore fancy suits, she imagined from the sound of their shoes. They made the most noise, alongside the high heels of course. Others were barely audible. Some people had heavy steps while others were light and quick on their feet. She sometimes challenged herself to recognize people by their steps as they walked past her. There was this one girl who always passed by her that smelled of cookies and vanilla. It was strange to her because no one else had captured her attention ever as much as that girl had. Not here in this spot, and not anywhere else really. Her steps were always light and often quick, but slowed down whenever she passed her. Carmilla had turned to let her senses capture her presence for a longer amount of time but nothing could ever compare to laying eyes on her, she was sure of that. The girl with the sweet smell of cookies and vanilla came and went every Saturday. Carmilla had thought about maybe trying to say hi to her, but no one ever noticed her. The ones that did just laughed at her or made comments, but luckily that didn’t happen often. She didn’t want to take her chances that this girl was going to be like that. So she just sat, waited, let her pass by and enjoyed the smell and sound of her presence.

Today, she was successful in recognizing the girl’s steps. And just like every other Saturday when she found herself on the steps, she let her pass by. She actually came very close to saying something today, but then reconsidered after remembering what had happened the last time she’d tried to meet a normal girl. It wasn’t like she had a chance with her anyways.

She sat on the steps a while longer, and waited. She went on with her game of trying to recognize people and sure enough, someone passed her a little later that she easily recognized, which was no surprise to her. A smirk appeared on her face as her hands stilled on the page.  
“Not today, science geek.” She spoke and lifted her head. A groan gave her conformation that she’d been right. A voice came from her left and the person walked back down to sit beside her.  
“Oh come on!” They huffed, “Are you sure you’re blind because I was really trying my hardest to be quiet. There’s just no way you picked up on that.”  
Carmilla just smirked and closed the book in her lap. “I have my methods.” Of course she’d never mention it to them, but they had this scent about them that just screamed ‘I am LaFontaine’. It was a mixture of chemicals and the typical floral scents you had in cleaning products. Curtesy of their roommate Perry, who liked to keep things perfectly clean.

“So,” from the tone in their voice, Carmilla already knew what was going to come out of their mouth next, “Did she pass by today?” She could sense the smirk on LaFontaine’s face as they spoke and regarded her.  
“Ugh you are so utterly predictable.” She spoke slightly annoyed, but all with good intentions. “But yes… She did.” She muttered.  
LaFontaine didn’t say anything in response, just stood up and held their arm out for her to hold onto once she got up as well. She swung the bag over her shoulder and grabbed LaFontaine’s elbow to let them guide her into the library. She never liked her cane much anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short but cute? I wrote this while at work about a month ago on the back of receipts.


	2. A Soft Touch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I made a new friend. She's been reading all my fics - Yes it's you.  
> She seemed to really like this one. I felt I should write a follow-up. So here it is. I hope you all enjoy it. (It's 2 AM rn so I'm sorry if there are any typo's I missed)

**Chapter 2**

The days were getting colder by the week and Laura was dreading the future snowfall. Not because the roads would be all slushy from snow or the fact that her nose and cheeks would turn a bright red from the cold. She actually liked snow. She liked the white landscape and the cold. At least she used to. Nowadays it meant that there would be no dark brunette reading on the steps. No one to silently greet her unknowingly on Saturday mornings. Laura sometimes scoffed at herself for thinking like this. _What am I, hopelessly in love? Please_. … Yeah, she could work on the convincing part of that little monologue. So far it wasn’t doing any actual good.  
So it happened that Laura found herself studying more in her dorm than in the library on silent Saturday mornings. Her roommate was usually sleeping in someone else’s bed and wouldn’t return until much later. The point? A whole dorm to herself, and no chance of disappointment waiting for her on the library steps. That didn’t make the work any less dreadful though. It’s true that she loves – most – of her classes, but the work they always got? Geez. Couldn’t they hold back at least a little? Exams were on the way and she wasn’t looking forward on a late start. Laura was planning to get all the details on two of her projects done today, and work for another one. Today was going to be a long workday. So she immediately started with a half-full pack of cookies by her side and a stash of grape sodas in the mini fridge.

So why was it that not four hours into an 18-hour work day, she found herself in the little coffee shop just a block away from her dorms? She had run out of cookies. She couldn’t possibly make it through her projects without cookies! No, that was unacceptable. Her entire stash was gone, so Laura has scrambled to get her coat and money before heading out of her little dorm room and making a cookie-run. She even forgot her gloves. Though she could hold a hot cup on the way back.  
There weren’t a lot of people inside the little shop which meant a small line. She was grateful for that little fact. She couldn’t really afford to lose much time. People around her seemed to take notice. Why people were glancing in her direction wasn’t exactly a mystery. Laura had thrown on her thick winter coat over her flannel checked pajama pants and bright sunshine-yellow boots. Who wore pajama pants with boots anyways? _Well no one is stupid enough to wear pajama pants outside of their dorm, Laura_ , she thought to herself. At least she could hide her shirt underneath the thick coat. She wasn’t particularly secretive about loving Doctor Who and the tenth doctor, but she didn’t really need to run around in her fan-art T-shirt.

  
When the guy behind the counter waved a hand in front of her face to get her attention, she was taken aback for a moment. She gave her order: a bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies, an extra giant chocolate chip cookie for the road, and a hot chocolate with vanilla extract.  
It didn’t take the guy long to assemble her order so she got the money ready and payed before hungrily grabbing the cookie and taking a large bite. With the bag of cookies under her arm, cup in hand and cookie in the other hand, she turned and walked towards the exit, munching happily on her cookie. Four hours without a cookie was too long for her liking. She put the cookie in her mouth to open the door with her one free hand and stepped outside. She held the door open for someone behind her. It wasn’t until the person behind her passed that she heard the repetitive clicking noise. What was that? Her answer came when a husky voice got her attention.  
“Could you hold the door please?”

Laura looked up, cookie dangling in her half open mouth in shock, cup of vanilla hot chocolate in hand, the bag still clutched between her arm and side _. It was her!_ Library girl was here! She was getting closer with her cane swinging from side to side before it hit her foot. Laura gathered her thoughts in a split second and wanted to answer the girl – but there was a giant cookie dangling out of her mouth! Her hands were full and she wasn’t able to do anything other than grunt. Of course she wasn’t going to do that so she stayed silent as the girl thanked her with that low and dreamy voice that tingled in her ears.    
“Thank you,” the girl said in her direction. Now that she saw her up close, Laura was completely taken aback by the beautiful looks of the brunette. She had a sharp jawline, perfectly smooth fair skin, and locks of dark hair that framed the perfection of beauty that was her face. She was wearing a long black winter coat along with a thick red and black checked scarf. Even though Laura had spotted her on the library steps, she’d never been able to see her up close. The way she looked left her speechless. _She_ left her speechless. Though, the cookie in her mouth wasn’t a big help if she had even attempted to speak.

The girl reached to hold the door open for herself and Laura could feel her fingers graze softly yet barely, over her own. The tingles in her hand made her take a few steps away from the door and release it for the girl to step through. Laura stood there for a moment, looking at the girl through the glass of the door before looking at the ground, grabbing the nearly breaking off part of the cookie and turning around. Her cheeks were burning a hot red, and it certainly wasn’t because of the cold.

 

\--

 

It was a cold December morning. A Saturday to be exact. Over the past few months, it had become Carmilla’s favorite day. Not only were there no lessons, she could go to the library with LaFontaine and catch a whiff of _her_ scent. The girl with the sweet cookie and vanilla smell. She, with the quick steps that always seemed to slow down when passing by her. The girl she’d always noticed yet never spoke to. Today, she was planning on going to the library. She didn’t care that it was too cold to sit outside on the steps. She’d go anyways. Carmilla hadn’t been able to go last week, and two weeks before that. She felt as if she had to go today to make up for her absence. So she put on her black leather pants and grabbed a shirt from her pile of black shirts. She had two piles: a big one with black shirts and a small one with colored shirts. She liked it that way.  
She made her way to her coat rack and decided she’d go with her favorite scarf today. A red and black checked pattern and her usual long black winter coat. If it wasn’t so cold, she’d just take her leather jacket, but if she was going to sit outside waiting for her, she couldn’t risk getting sick.  
  
Carmilla sat on the library steps, her book still in her bag because it was too cold to read it. She forgot her good reading gloves, the ones without fingertips, so she just sat there and waited. There weren’t a lot of people around now, and only a few people came up the steps to enter the library. None of them had been her. So she waited.

LaFontaine passed by them after a while, and they did their usual routine which caused her to light up a bit. But them passing by also meant that the girl wasn’t on time. But she wasn’t about to give up. She’d finally made up her mind to try and talk to the girl. No way was she going to give up. So again, she sighed and waited. And waited.  


Eventually, Carmilla pressed the button on her watch, which let her know an hour and a half had passed already. She was getting old and losing hope of seeing her today. _Maybe she was sick? Or hungover?_ Nah that wouldn’t be it. She’d been here every Saturday morning. Carmilla was sure she wasn’t the kind of girl to drink so much she’d have to stay locked inside. Still, the girl wasn’t here. She was sure she hadn’t missed her going up the steps. A sigh left her cold lips. A frown on her face. Maybe she’d missed her chance…

 

She decided she couldn’t stay there any longer. She was almost becoming part of the steps, frozen in place. Carmilla admitted defeat and got up. Her hands were freezing, even though she’d put them in her pockets. She grabbed her cane, swung her bag over her shoulder and slowly returned to her dorm. She didn’t really feel like studying in the library anymore. As to make sure LaFontaine didn’t worry, she took out her phone and commanded it to send a text to LaFontaine telling them she was going home. She’d have to explain later but for now, she didn’t want to deal with it.

 

She was about halfway to her house when she smelled the scent of coffee in the air. She could hear chatter coming from down the street. The Coffee Shop. She knew exactly what she needed to cheer her up. A large black coffee would do. Maybe not emotionally, but physically she’d feel a lot less tired. When she heard someone open the door – the chatter became louder and a gust of warm wind ran past her – she called out.  
“Could you hold the door please?”

The person holding the door didn’t say anything but she heard the rustle of a bag and she hadn’t heard the door close so she took it as a good sign to go ahead.  
“Thank you,” she said in their direction and reached to hold the door herself.

 

Carmilla felt her fingertips graze the other person’s fingers, which caused them to tingle and her heart to jump. She took a sharp intake of breath. _What the hell?_ It wasn’t until then that she smelled it: a soft scent of vanilla, hot chocolate and a sugary smell she knew to be the Chocolate chip cookies they sold here. _The girl from the steps_. Quick paces and always smelling the same.  
She turned her head to say something but felt the weight of the door fall against her hand and knew she was gone. The words got caught in her throat and she sighed, her brows knitted together. Would she ever get the chance to talk to her? _Or the courage_ , Carmilla thought.

“Excuse me miss, but could you please step inside? It’s cold out there you know?” A voice from inside addressed to her snapped her out of her thoughts. She apologetically waved and muttered an apology while releasing the door and stepping inside. She knew the shop well enough not to need her cane. The guy behind the counter – parents of LaFontaine’s ‘special friend’ Perry – greeted her and asked her if she wanted the usual order. Carmilla nodded while she got the money from her pocket. Her fingers were tracing the sides of the coins. She didn’t really need to count it anymore, though. She always counted it out at home and put it inside her vest pocket so that she wouldn’t hold up the line. It was a habit she’d developed as a kid and couldn’t help. She wasn’t as nervous about getting a coffee here as she was somewhere else, but it was still nice to be reassured she didn’t need to do basic math while in line. Being blind could be a pain in the ass at some unexpected moments, even though she’d learned to live with it.

Her hand was on the counter with the money and Perry’s dad tapped it to let her give him the money. He took it and she held her hand up for the cup, cane in the other hand.  
“Careful it’s – “

“Hot. Yeah I know but thanks, Jeremy.” Carmilla was used to him saying it by now. Usually she found it very irritating but she’d known him for a long time now. She released her folded cane so that it was one piece again and started tapping it for the way out.  
“Here, I got it.” A low male voice said as she felt the ice cold winter air rush past her. She silently thanked the man for holding the door open and made her way back to her apartment. It wasn’t until she was on her couch, coffee slowly disappearing into her system, that she allowed herself to think about the girl from the library steps. The girl from the coffee shop. The one with the awfully sweet, yet nice homey scent. The one who’d made her imagination run wild like it hadn’t done in what felt like a lifetime.


	3. A Long Absence

**Chapter 3**

 

After Laura’s encounter at The Coffee Shop, it was needless to say her focus was off the rest of the day. She did get some work done though. More than she’d expected, and less than she’d hoped but it would have to do. She worked on her projects every moment she could; between lessons, right after classes until she had to sleep and sometimes she even managed to get a decent meal. It was now Friday and Betty, Laura’s roommate, was going out again. Laura was finalizing the details of her final project now so that she could start studying for her exams tomorrow morning. She’d been able to plan everything out but there had to be one sacrifice: she wouldn’t be able to go to the library unless absolutely necessary. The time it took to get there was better spent studying in her room, certainly because Betty was out most of the time.

Laura was doubting Betty’s word whenever she promised Laura she’d study. She was sure Betty was doing anything but studying most of the time. Then again, Betty was really smart- in contrast to what many thought of her. She just didn’t need to study a lot- which did sometimes result into Betty actually not studying at all and caused a not-too-good grade in the end. Laura had warned her many times, but now she just let her go her own way. She had to focus on her own grades- and not on beautiful dark brunettes with exquisite style and facial features. Which was not going too well for her.

 

Laura sighed as her marker ran out of fluid and she threw it over her shoulder, right into the trashcan. She frowned as she heard it land and turned her chair around to watch her little achievement. A wide grin appeared for a second, realizing her small victory. _Why can’t I do that when someone is actually watching?_ Laura thought. She heaved a great sigh and plopped back down into her chair and swiveled it back around, her hand immediately gripping the pencil and tapping it on the desk while she started to read where she’d left off. This was going to be a long month: studying, studying and more studying and then the holidays back home. She wondered if there was even the slightest chance of seeing the girl at all during this hectic month…

 

\--

 

“Yo, Karnstein. So have you seen her around?” LaFontaine whispered quite loudly to Carmilla as they were sitting in the library. “No pun intended, of course.”  
Carmilla had been reading up on some study material for her exam when LaFontaine joined her. They had agreed to just meet inside at their regular table for the exam period. It was too cold out and there were more students flooding the tables of the library on Saturday mornings.

 

“Well hello to you too, LaFontaine. I’m good thanks for asking.” Carmilla sarcastically replied. They kept bugging her with questions about the girl. It had been going on ever since Carmilla had first asked LaFontaine is they knew anyone like her. It had been a challenge to describe her to LaF because the only thing she really knew was that the girl smelled as sweet as cookies and as good as a vanilla scented candle. And that the girl walked in light quick steps. But to a seeing person, that wasn’t much to go on. They usually went with hair color, and height. So LaFontaine had tried their best to find out who the girl was. Carmilla even dared to say LaFontaine was as curious about her as she was. But it was no luck. Until last week at least.

 

“Not since The Coffee Shop,” Carmilla sighed to answer their previous question. LaFontaine pulled out their books and got everything set up to study next to Carmilla before they responded.   
“Well, at least now we know she’s a regular there. I asked Perry if she was there at all the morning you came in, but she was upstairs studying so she doesn’t know who it is. She did tell me she’d keep an eye open for anyone maybe talking about you.” Carmilla just spoke a soft “thanks” while they turned to their books.

Carmilla felt a bit weird. She never liked it when people she didn’t know talked about her, she’d heard many adults talk about her when they thought she wasn’t listening. She’d always say: “ _I’m blind, not deaf_.” They made her feel self-conscious. She never knew if she looked okay. It hadn’t really bothered her until she hit a point where the whispers became too much.   
But maybe with the girl talking about her, Perry would be able to find out who it was and she could get to know the girl. Though the thought terrified her, it was the only thing she wanted at the moment. To know the identity of the girl, to befriend her, to be close to her. To really know her. To find out why she likes cookies, or smells of vanilla. To figure out if it wasn’t her imagination telling her the girl’s steps always slowed when walking past on the library steps. If only it was that simple.

 

They worked in near silence for most of Saturday morning. When noon rolled around, they packed up their stuff and went to The Coffee Shop together to get some pastries for lunch. LaFontaine took Carmilla’s arm and put her hand in the crook of their elbow to lead her to the shop. They used to joke about it.   
“With you on my arm I’ll never find a partner. They’d think I’m already taken,” They laughed. Carmilla knew it was all jokes because the only person LaF was interested in, was Perry. Their life-long friend Lola Perry. Carmilla and LaF both knew it, but it had become an unspoken rule that they wouldn’t talk about the relationship status of the pair. They were best friends with very real feelings as far as Carmilla knew, but if they were ever going to admit it to themselves was a whole other story.   
  
They walked into the shop and LaF took Carmilla to a booth. The place was quite crowded, no one wanted to cook during the exam month so they all just came here to buy pastries. Carmilla saved the booth for the two of them- or three if Perry would be joining them- while LaF stood in line.   
The entire time she sat there waiting for LaF to return, she tried to listen to other people’s conversations. Not that it took a lot of effort, people were usually a bit louder than they realized, but she was looking for one particular topic of conversation; herself. It was probably kind of stupid to try and catch a sentence of a conversation that wouldn’t even be happening because if the girl really was here, she would just come talk to her. Right? Or maybe she’d be doing the same thing Carmilla was doing, looking for her. Maybe she was looking at her right now. _Oh god_. She reached for her bag and rummaged around but couldn’t find what she was looking for and groaned.

 

“What are you thinking of, Carmilla? You look… uneasy.” LaFontaine spoke as they scooted into the booth opposite Carmilla.   
“Is anyone looking at us right now?” Carmilla wondered out loud. Before LaFontaine could even look around the side of the booth to look into the rest of the store, Carmilla went on, “Don’t- Don’t make it obvious, I just… If she’s here she might be looking at me and I’m not wearing my sunglasses and I can’t find them in my bag.” Carmilla was fiddling with her hands around the freshly made coffee cup placed in front of her. LaF knew this to be a sign of Carmilla’s mind overthinking.

 

“Hey,” LaF took one of the fiddling hands in their own, the motions halting, “It doesn’t matter what you look like, Carmilla. But for the record,” LaFontaine glanced over their shoulder to the rest of the shop. “Besides the usual amount of girls wishing they were the ones holding your hand right now, I don’t see anyone staring.” That made Carmilla snort and smile, for which LaF was grateful. They had to cheer up their friend sometimes when it came to appearance of her without sunglasses, but otherwise Carmilla was actually pretty confident. Alright, with the girlfriend department things could be better but that was the result of a very bad ending to an even worse love story.   
The looks of her eyes on the other hand, that insecurity had just always been there. Which LaFontaine didn’t understand. Alright, they knew that Carmilla hadn’t seen her own eyes in the state that they were now, but they didn’t look bad. They looked like normal eyes, the only difference being the color. But they knew that Carmilla didn’t think of it that way.

 

LaFontaine rummaged in their own bad for a moment and pulled a pair of sunglasses out. They always had them in their backpack because in the winter, the snow could get so bright with the sun that they needed them. Now, they were very glad they carried them around because their friend needed them more than she ever did.

LaFontaine took one of Carmilla’s hands again and put the sunglasses in it without a word.   
“LaF,” Carmilla’s hands felt around them and opened them to put on, “Thanks for understanding.”

“Hey, no worries.” LaFontaine spoke reassuringly. “But I don’t think she’s here. And to be honest? If she’s as head-over-heels as you are for her, she won’t even- Ouch!” LaF grabbed at their leg under the table. “What?”

“I’m not head-over-heels for her!” Carmilla nearly hissed.

“Oh you keep telling yourself that, grumpy.” LaFontaine laughed before sipping their coffee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some would call this a 'filler' chapter. I call it story development.  
> I could see myself writing longer and better chapters in the future, but I'm not promising regular updates. Until next time, and thank you for reading.


	4. A Musky Library

 

She didn’t think missing her could get any worse. Until it did. Laura often wondered how she could miss someone she didn’t even know. She’d been practically locked up in her room for three weeks and three days, studying almost non-stop. Her only breaks were bathroom breaks, her exams of course, and dance sessions. Silly dance sessions that helped her shake out all the stress. Her study music allowed her to concentrate to the fullest, meaning no voice to sing along to. During her breaks she put on some music to sing along with. She got all the energy out of her system so she could focus more on her texts afterwards.

 

She still had two exams to go. One today, that she was quite sure she’d score well on, and one in a few days. The latter she feared. Not only was it the last exam of the bunch, meaning she’d be all out of energy to focus and study, but it was also her most difficult subject. She’d made summaries and an analysis of most of the subject matter but it wasn’t her favorite class. She knew that even though she worked hard, she would still barely manage to pass with a decent grade. It got her average down a bit, but she couldn’t do anything more for the subject than she was currently doing.

The only thing she was planning on doing different might be something she’d like very much. Something she hadn’t been able to do in over three weeks and three days. Go to the library and possibly see the girl again. But maybe she’d be the same as her and only study in her room. Perhaps it was easier for someone who’s blind to just stay in their own room and not waste time getting to the library – well seeing as she was currently doing that, maybe it was easier for everyone. Or maybe the girl was meeting up with someone to study together. Would be even more practical, right? Laura wasn’t really sure. She decided she shouldn’t assume things about something she really didn’t know much about. Of course, she’d researched a bit but a disability was different to everyone personally, right? Again, Laura figured she’d find out if she ever had the chance to talk to the beautiful dark brunette.

So Laura packed her bag, everything present for an exam and for an afternoon in the library. She told herself not to get her hopes up but of course she couldn’t help it and wished the girl would go there as well. Maybe, she could look up some information about blindness there. She did have a lot of the work done for Friday’s exam after all…

 

And when Laura arrived at the library a little past noon, that’s exactly what she did. She went up to the correct floor and went through the isle with books on being blind, and books for the blind.

 

\--

 

Carmilla and LaFontaine were meeting up at the library again for their last exam of this series. But LaFontaine seemed to be running late. So, with the help of a voice program, she texted them.   
“Text LaFontaine: Where the hell are you, dimwit? I can’t start without you. I don’t know where the books are!” Carmilla had said it as quietly as possible but she was really not in the best mood. This wasn’t going to be an easy exam and in order for her to work, she needed LaF.

Within moments, she got a reply from them. Her voice program read it to her through her headphones.   
“LaFontaine texts: Got caught up with Perry. Books in aisle 305. Could take a while B 4 I’m there,” the voice read. It was funny to hear it say B4 instead of ‘before’ but Carmilla wasn’t in the laughing mood. She hated asking people for help. Especially when it came to getting books because they usually didn’t realize that yes, they did have books in braille in a library.

But seeing as the rather smart idiot was caught up with their “best friend” – not girlfriend, yet – Carmilla decided to leave her secure spot and try to find the aisle by herself. She flung her bag across her shoulder and let her cane unfold. At least she knew her way around enough to get to the third floor. The fifth aisle wouldn’t be too far from the stairs, she hoped.

 

She swung her cane from side to side until she reached the stairs, climbing them up to the correct floor with ease. Once she got there though, it was a different story. She’d only ever been on the ground and first floor, and she wasn’t sure where to start. She also had no clue if there were any people up here or how big the floor was, really. She couldn’t hear any people, perhaps she could feel around and no one would see or notice her.

 

It smelled of old books here more than it did downstairs, and Carmilla had the feeling it was a place she would have loved to lay her eyes upon if she still could. She imagined pictures of big, old libraries she’d seen years ago when she still had her vision. She’d always wanted to have one of her own back then, and she still did. Though now she’d never be able to arrange the books on color, or on how well they fit together. It was a little thing, but it had been a childhood dream as the bookworm she was.

 

Leaving her nostalgic thoughts behind, Carmilla made her way to her left, to where she hoped would be the first aisle. Her cane was still in front of her, making sure her path was clear while the other was feeling for the sign on the side of the giant bookcases. Her hand made contact with a plaque that had some letters on it, but no braille. There was however, a big roman numeral I engraved on the plaque. Okay, that gave her something at least. She turned slightly and walked along the book cases, silently counting and letting her fingers feel each plaque she passed. When she came to the fifth aisle, there was a 5 written in braille. Finally something she could read.

 

Checking her phone to see if LaFontaine had messaged her yet, she sighed. Still nothing. Seriously that scientist and their soon-to-be-girlfriend should just hurry up already.   
She’d just have to find the books herself. She wasn’t sure if the hard part was over, or just beginning. She put her cane away and let her hands run over the books. She used both of them to find the books quicker. She’d developed the ability to read with both of her hands a while back because she’d burned her fingertip on her left hand. It came in handy from time to time. Like now.

 

The only problem Carmilla couldn’t have foreseen was the stranger who’d left a clutter of books on the floor. When Carmilla took another step to her right, she hit a pile of books with her foot and – because she hadn’t been anticipating an obstacle in her way – fell onto the floor. She hit her side on the pile of books and hit her head against the shelf with a loud thud. She cursed and groaned as she heard someone gasp a few meters away from her.   
“Oh my god! I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” the stranger asked as they rushed towards her to help her up.

Carmilla didn’t want any help, though. This idiot had just caused her a serious headache. She rubbed her head as she moved to sit up. At least she couldn’t feel any blood there.

“Good work leaving books in the middle of an isle with books for _blind people_.”

“I’m so sorry. Did you hurt yourself?” the stranger asked and she heard them move towards her. “Here let me help- “ the stranger began but Carmilla cut them off.  
“Don’t you fucking touch me!” She backed away and so did the stranger. The rustle of clothing had stopped.

 

There was a moment of lingering silence as Carmilla felt her head some more and the stranger just stood there. Carmilla was ever grateful for the sunglasses that had remained on her head. If this stranger was already staring at her now, what would it be if they could actually see her eyes?

 

The voice of the stranger sounded much softer when it broke the silence. It even sounded more sad than anything now that the shock of the fall was over.   
“I wasn’t thinking.” Carmilla could hear the regret in their voice but still, she was still angry. Who the hell did that anyways? But she knew it wasn’t their fault. Her face softened a bit as she tried to calm herself down.   
“Yeah, I can see you weren’t thinking.” Carmilla’s voice had lost its hard bite to it, a bit of humor radiated in it even. Something told her to go easy on this person.   
The stranger seemed to hesitate at that. “Was that supposed to be a joke, ‘cause I don’t really know if- “

Carmilla interrupted. “Don’t crack your head over it. I shouldn’t have snapped. I just don’t like it when people – especially those I don’t know – touch me without my consent. Not even with good intentions.” The stranger remained silent in what Carmilla figured to be remorse. She was glad they understood. She was sure they knew it to be logical sense, but in these situations where people just wanted to help her, they didn’t really think before they acted.

 

When Carmilla finally made a move to get up, she immediately regretted it. That stack of books must have been higher than she realized. Sure she’d felt her side hit them, but damn it hurt now. That was going to bruise for sure. A groan had escaped from her lips and her hand shot to hold her side. She carefully felt with her fingers. Jup, she was going to feel that fall for a week. _Great_. And she couldn’t get up. Also great.

“Hey, can I give you a hand now?” the stranger spoke and Carmilla figured they were holding out a hand. Reluctantly, she put out her own hand and took the hand of the stranger. She was carefully pulled up and a second, steadying hand rested on her other arm. She was okay with that. But the stranger let go of her soon after her realization.

Carmilla was quite aware they were still standing quite close to one another and suddenly, something familiar seemed to seep through her senses. Only she couldn’t place it. She had the strange sensation that this wasn’t her first encounter with the stranger.

 

“I’m Laura by the way.” The stranger spoke. Well, not totally a stranger anymore now. Now she was just a stranger with a name. A beautiful name it was, though. Had she heard it before? Not that she could recall. So why did she feel like she knew this girl?

 

In response, Carmilla felt it was only right to hold out her hand for Laura to shake. As Laura took her hand again – this time to formerly shake it and not help her up from the ground – it hit her. That spark from three weeks ago at the Coffee Shop hit her anew. She knew exactly where she knew this girl from. And it left her utterly speechless.

“You- “ she swallowed, “I’m…” Carmilla wasn’t quite sure what to say. Her name? Did she even remember what she was called when talking to her? This was _her_. _The_ girl.   
Her senses flooded with the scent of vanilla and cookies. The touch of Laura’s hand was so nice she wasn’t sure she was going to let go. Eventually Carmilla found her voice again and she spoke softly, all anger forgotten.   
“I’m Carmilla.”

 

Of all the scenario’s Carmilla had imagined meeting the girl that haunted her dreams, landing on a stack of books in the library hadn’t been one of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \--  
> There dear commenters! You got your meet :D I decided it felt right and not give them too much of a slow burn - though I do love them myself. It would have been a bore to write the studying part tbh.  
> I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. 
> 
> I don't know where I'm going from this point forward, but the story isn't over yet.  
> I mean, that would be cruel, wouldn't it? *sly eyebrow raise*
> 
> I do want to give a big thanks to all the lovely commenters out there. Reading your comments makes me smile big time.


	5. A Musky Library Pt II

Laura was totally lost in thought. There were books on one end of the long aisle that were all in braille, and on the other end, there were books about blindness. She’d collected a pile of books and was reading one of them, her back leaning against the bookcases. There really was a lot of new information in this book; facts she didn’t even think of, scientific things she didn’t know existed, and many more.

She had been so far gone into the book that when another person walked into the isle, she didn’t notice. It was only when she heard a loud thump followed by a string of curses that she noticed the other person on the ground. Laura’s head shot up as a gasp of surprise escaped her lips.  
“Oh my god! I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” She asked the person and she scrambled to help them. It was only when she was standing right in front of the dark brunette that she realized exactly who it was.

“Good work leaving books in the middle of an isle with books for _blind people_.” Her voice was so rough, and it strummed through her. It was like a sweet melody to her ears. The sarcastic remark shook her awake however.

“I’m so sorry. Did you hurt yourself?” Laura asked, seriously concerned for the still nameless lady she’d been admiring for months now. “Here let me help- She moved to help her up but was cut off.  
“Don’t fucking touch me!” The girl recoiled, and so did Laura, her face screwed up in surprise, shock and confusion all at once.  
A moment of silence passed. Laura was unsure what to do or say. The gorgeous and obviously angry girl – as she had the right to be – felt her head for a moment. She wondered if it hurt. She thought of anything she could do in case her head was bleeding. Her father did give her that first aid kit that was on the bottom of her backpack…

She looked at the girl again. Her sunglasses were still in place. How would it be, to be blind? How could it _feel_? Not knowing any of your surroundings. Not knowing how beautiful the sunset was, or what beauty colors could bring to nature. She wondered more now than she’d wondered at any time before; when she was asked the famous question: would you rather be deaf or blind? Laura wouldn’t rather _be_ anything, but she’d always given an answer. Simply because they’d insisted. She’d always said she’d rather not see than hear because she couldn’t imagine a life without music, talking and the wide range of voices. Because voices, she remembered but faces faded.  
Now she regretted that answer and it was then she realized exactly how stupid she’d been. Leaving books in the middle of the floor in an aisle for blind people… Shit.

“I’m wasn’t thinking.” Laura spoke. It surprised her how soft her voice had become. It was filled with emotion.

“Yeah, I can see you weren’t thinking.” The girl still sounded sarcastic but somehow, it was softer. The irony of the situation and phrase didn’t go unnoticed by her, and again she found herself unsure of how to respond.

“Was that supposed to be a joke, ‘cause I don’t really know if- “ she started, but the girl stopped her once more.

“Don’t crack your head over it. I shouldn’t have snapped. I just don’t like it when people – especially those I don’t know – touch me without my consent. Not even with good intentions.” And when she put it that way, Laura immediately realized how her good intentions could have been uncomfortable. She wasn’t unsure of her words. Should she apologize again, offer help again, or just wait? Her answer came when the girl tried to get up, but recoiled as her face screwed up in pain. That stack of books must have hit her hard. When the girl let out a groan – a sound that shouldn’t have sounded the way it did to Laura – she put out her hand.

“Hey,” she carefully started, not wanting to screw up _all_ of her chances with her yet, “can I give you a hand now?”

The girl hesitated but accepted the carefully offered help. Laura pulled her up and put a steadying hand underneath the girl’s elbow. _Shit_ , she was really close, and the tingles Laura felt on her skin were not helping the situation. She released the girl once she was steady, and took a small step back, though they were still quite close.

 

At this point, Laura realized just how much she’d screwed up her first impression with the only person who that mattered right now. She figured it couldn’t get any worse, so she decided on the next logical step when you just lost all hope of ever forming any sort of relationship with another person; she introduced herself.  
“I’m Laura by the way,” she said, finally declaring her name in hope that she would return the favor. It wasn’t really a favor but seeing as they went through this much of a mess to get to this point…

“You-“ the girl started. Though the sunglasses on the girl’s nose, she could still see the expression of – something, fly over her face. It was soon replaced by a pair a raised eyebrows and a look that reminded her of a deer caught in headlights. “I’m…” the girl tried again, but stopped just as abruptly as before.  
“I’m Carmilla” she finally said while breathing out, giving her voice an even huskier sound to it. It had never taken much to make Laura feel, for a lack of better terms, hot and bothered – a pretty face or gesture could make her blush – but she’d never felt this strong of a pull towards someone. Especially not one she’d just officially encountered.

 

Silence fell upon them again, but it was anything but uncomfortable. They both seemed to take each other in, each in their own way. Letting this moment sink through, not yet knowing the full extent of the others’ wishes for this to happen.

Eventually, Carmilla stretched out her hand towards Laura.  
“Perhaps we should start over.” Her voice carried a hint of a smile, and Laura already liked the sound of it.  
“Alright, I can do that.” Laura took her hand and shook it. It felt kind of weird – but not really in a bad way. The tingles were still there on Laura’s part that much she did know. Not that she was ever going to tell her about them.

 

“So, um,” Carmilla started, “what were you doing in an aisle full of books in braille?” It was an honest question. But Laura had no idea how to respond. She couldn’t say: ‘I’ve noticed you for months and couldn’t get you out of my mind and I thought I’d do some research on blindness.’ In fact, she wasn’t sure what excuse she could give. So when she blurted out the words, she surprised herself.  
“I had to do some research for a class, and figured this would be the best place to start.”

Carmilla seemed to accept the plausible answer without much thought. Laura was relieved, but tried not to let it show.

Carmilla was about to speak, when a song started playing. The sound came from Carmilla’s pocket, and Laura soon realized it to be a ringtone. Carmilla excused herself for the loud ringtone and checked her phone. She put one earplug in her ear – they were hanging around her neck – and listened to something. She took the earplug out and looked back towards Laura.  
“My friend is on the way here. I was going to study with them,” Carmilla said but hesitated as she seemed to ponder over something. “Would you like to join us?”

Laura was surprised she wanted her company, but nevertheless, thrilled. Of course she wanted to spend more time with the girl she’d been keep on getting to know. She told herself to calm down and not give herself away before she answered with a smile and nod while humming her agreement, not trusting her voice to sound neutral. Though she did have one question.   
"is that a good or a bad hum?" Carmilla asked, waving in front of her face to indicate that - hellooo talking to a blind person here. Laura's cheeks gained color and for a second she was glad Carmilla couldn't see that.   
"It was a good hum. I'd love to join the two of you." 

 

The two of them went back to the aisle in which Carmilla had been looking for the right books. Carmilla handed books to Laura, which she neatly stacked together beside her own pile. Laura put the books for her ‘research’ back, she didn’t really need them right now anyways. Plus, how would it look to Carmilla’s friend is she was researching blindness right next to a blind person? She could use the time with the pair to study for her last exam. It was probably best that way.  
Laura took this moment as the time to ask her question.  
“Carmilla?” When she received a hum as response, Laura continued. “Before you said there was a friend of yours you studied with. But then you said them. Are there plural friends coming or am I just confused?” Laura honestly wondered. She didn’t want to say anything wrong, after all she didn’t know this beautiful girl yet.

When she received a chuckle as response, she wasn’t sure what to think. A chuckle was good, right? At least it wasn’t a bad thing.  
“No there’s only one friend of mine I study with.” Carmilla found another book she needed and handed it to Laura while smiling at her. “I said them,” she began before Laura could voice her confusion once more, “because they prefer to be addressed with the pronouns they/them. And I hope you can understand that.” Laura knew this was a very sensitive and serious topic. She hadn’t ever encountered someone with they/them pronouns before, but she was glad she knew now before insulting or possibly hurting them by addressing them with the wrong pronouns.  
Now that she was asking questions, she found the courage to go on.  
“They’re okay with you telling me this, right?”  
“Oh yeah, they trust me.” Carmilla said lightly.

 

Once they gathered all their supplies, Carmilla got a text from her friend to say they were at their usual study table. That and asking where the hell she was at. Laura watched as Carmilla spoke into her phone and sent it as a text message. It was kind of cool to see her being able to do these otherwise ordinary things, though kind of differently.  
They went down the stairs together. Laura carrying the books, going first. Carmilla trailing behind with her cane in one hand and her other on the railing. Once they were back on the ground floor, they switched positions and Carmilla led Laura to their table.

“There’s my favorite blind girl!” Carmilla’s friend exclaimed, a little too loudly for a library but still quiet enough to get only two glances. Laura received a curious look from them, but they didn’t say anything.  
“LaF, you only know one blind chick.” Carmilla threw her book bag against the chair she was going to sit down in. She motioned towards her friend. “This is LaFontaine.”  
“Bio-Major extraordinaire,” LaFontaine grinned and did a little salute.  
Laura took a chair opposite the pair and put her bag in the chair next to her after dropping the pile of books onto the table. They were starting to weigh down on her.  
“I’m Laura. Literature-Journalism here.” Laura pulled her notebook with all her analysis out and sighed. “How many exams do you have left?” she asked them both.  
“Just one,” Carmilla and LaFontaine said together. They all shared a sigh.

 

After they settled all of their things, LaFontaine handing Carmilla the right book, LaFontaine regarded her for a moment.  
“So tell me,” they reached forward on their elbows, fists supporting their head, “How did you two manage to meet in the hour I leave you alone?” That last one was directed at Carmilla.  
Before Laura could respond however, Carmilla smirked at the memory.  
“I’ll tell you that story later when your loud laugh won’t disturb a hundred people from studying.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if it's not my best...


	6. A Great Perhaps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of humor, mixed with a spark of that something special, and a discovery about the past. Enjoy

**Chapter 6**

 

Carmilla couldn’t, for the life of her, figure out how she’d managed to ask the girl – Laura – to join her and LaFontaine to their study session. She’d been trying to calm herself down reading the braille on the back of the books, hoping to find the ones she needed. Then those words had spilled out. Though she was way too happy that she was now studying with Laura sitting opposite her, she was also quite nervous. With LaFontaine’s effortless attempts at cracking jokes that had soon subsided. Once they had all gotten into studying for their last exam, a comfortable silence fell over them. This was only interrupted by the white noise of pages turning, the scribble of a pen, or the squeaking of a marker.  
  
Carmilla knew LaFontaine was studying a biology subject. Something about plant cells, which she herself knew nothing about. Or at least, so little that she didn’t bother to follow when LaFontaine was explaining it to her. She did listen of course, but they knew so much compared to her, so it wasn’t easy to understand.

  
Laura on the other hand, mentioned she was a Literature major before, which did pique Carmilla’s curiosity, as she happened to be a bookworm herself. Although slightly different, for obvious reasons. Thank god for audiobooks. One day, when she was younger, someone had asked her what she would do if books disappeared. Her younger self had pondered over that thought for a while. There would be no beautiful words written to form complex sentences in old or new languages. There would be no late nights, spent in a blanket fort reading until she fell asleep. No other life to get lost in. She’d been afraid of that, of books going away forever. But as she grew older, she forgot about all that for a while; A little kid had a lot of thoughts they didn’t want to have and tried to forget. But then she lost her vision and the fear became a daily reality. It had taken her quite a while to learn to love books again. Braille wasn’t easy to learn if you had once known the letters and numbers in beautiful calligraphy.

 

  
“Hey, sweet tooth,” Carmilla said to catch Laura’s attention, and to distract herself from that difficult time in her life. From the muffled sound coming from Laura’s position, she could already guess what Laura was going to say. “I don’t have to see you to know that you’re munching on a cookie. I can smell the sugar all the way from here.” She liked teasing her. After all, she did deserve a bit of teasing after that meeting of theirs three floors above them.  
“Well,” Laura swallowed down a bite, “It is the most delicious cookie in the entire world.” Her voice gave away her smile. Carmilla imagined it to be radiant and a smile that could light up the world.  
LaFontaine had joined in on the conversation now.  
“Hey, that’s from Perry’s place,” they remarked.  
“Perry’s? I don’t know a place called Perry’s. I got this from the Coffee Shop.” Carmilla had to admit, Laura’s confusion was adorable. It nearly made her laugh and forget about her earlier thoughts. But not quite. LaF on the other hand couldn’t hold back the snigger.  
“Perry is my best friend,” LaF started and Carmilla shot a meaningful look in their direction to indicate her thoughts. _More like other half_ , she thought. However, LaFontaine went on undisturbed, “Her parents own the shop but she’s the mastermind behind the cookie recipes.”  
“Oh my god, you have to thank her for me! These cookies are heaven!” Laura exclaimed, slightly too loud for inside a library.  
“If heaven were made of sugar, sure,” Carmilla added smugly. That earned her an elbow to her arm from LaF.  
“Hey miss grump. Don’t pretend you don’t love them.”  
They had her there. Perry did know how to make a delicious cookie, even if they were way too sweet for her usual diet.  
“Oh hush, LaF.” In response, she just heard the typical tsk tsk-noise and got another book handed to her.

 

Now that they were talking, Carmilla didn’t see the point in not going on. She positioned herself back towards Laura and spoke.  
“So, what’s your last exam that’s got you sighing so much?”

“Well, it’s this extra class I’m taking called history of the Netherlands. The difficult part isn’t the history behind it. It’s the Dutch and French that’s got me confused.” Carmilla was surprised. Why would Laura be taking a history class?  
“Why are you taking the class if you don’t know Dutch or French?” she asked.  
“I needed to pick one more class to get to the required hours, and it seemed interesting enough. Plus, one side of my family had origins there. I thought it would be cool enough to do, compared to the other remaining options. The exam is the day after tomorrow and though I’ve studied it all, it’s still extremely difficult in some aspects.”  
It wasn’t an impossible train of thoughts, Carmilla supposed. Laura had roots from Western Europe? Interesting. At least that was something they had in common. Though she wasn’t about to reveal that to Laura just yet.

“I supposed I should let you move on with on work then,” Carmilla said. But Laura didn’t seem to agree just yet. It was her turn to ask Carmilla a question now, which was only fair she supposed.  
“How about you? What do you study, Carmilla?” She liked the way Laura said her name. There was something slightly different about the way she said it compared to anyone else.  
“I’m a Philosophy major,” she gave her a small smile. It was as if she wanted to say, ‘Yeah I know, not always a very practical study, but hey I’m blind so what does it matter anyways?’ At least, that’s what she hoped she was conveying. “Albeit with a slight altercation in course materials and requirements.”

Laura didn’t ask her about being blind, which was a nice change compared to any other new person that had come into her life since that day. Usually, it was one of the first conversations they held. After which, sometimes, not many more followed. They all just wanted to know some generic things about being blind. Things they could have asked any blind person, so they made her feel like she was nothing special to those people. But, instead of doing just that, Laura asked questions about her major. Which books she’d read for class, which ones she’d read but not specifically for class. Even what kind of literature she preferred and enjoyed most. It was a welcome change. 

 

\--

 

Later, when Laura had excused herself to go home and LaFontaine and Carmilla were left alone in the library, LaFontaine turned to her as soon as Laura was out of sight and earshot.  
Before Carmilla could even ask or say anything, LaFontaine was bursting.

“Spill it, how did you manage to meet her without my awesome wing-person skills?” But Carmilla couldn’t care less about their awkward first encounter at the moment.  
“LaFontaine, that’s her,” she said, totally ignoring LaF’s remark.  
“Her? What do you- “  
“I mean that she’s the girl from the steps. The Coffee Shop. The smelling-of-cookies-and-vanilla girl.” At LaF’s sharp intake of breath, she knew they were on the same track now.

“Alright, you better tell me how you managed to find her and figure it out. At least now we know where she gets her cookies from.”  
So Carmilla told them how she stumbled over the books and remarked something she couldn’t quite put her finger on before finally realizing.

 

“Wow C, you really made a good first impression there.” LaFontaine was having way too much fun re-imagining the scenario.  
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t remind me. At least she is more than a stranger now.” Somewhere along the study session, LaFontaine had gotten a message from Perry, conversed with her a bit, and let Laura send Perry a text through their phone, complimenting her on her wonderful cookie recipe. LaFontaine had suggested she immediately put her phone number in. “Always nice making new friends,” they’d said. Carmilla had been grateful for them suggesting it, more than they might realize. Because that way, she didn’t have to ask Laura for her number in a totally awkward fashion.

 

They talked and studied for about an hour or two more before finally packing up. LaFontaine put their books back, or went to the librarian to check some of them out.  
It was on their walk back to their dorms that Carmilla’s curiosity took the best of her.  
“LaFontaine…” she hesitated. She had one hand on their arm, letting them guide her. This was a more relaxed way of traveling than her cane. She had never quite gotten the hand of that thing and still bumped into something every once in a while.  
“Yeah?” they encouraged, full of curiosity for what their friend was about to ask them.  
“Is she- I mean, does she- ,” she sighed, “Could you describe her for me, please?” She felt slightly embarrassed for asking her friend, but it was really the only way she would ever know.  
“Oh she’s very pretty,” LaFontaine immediately started, and Carmilla smiled involuntarily. Not that looks mattered to her, but it was nice when a pretty voiced matched a pretty face and pretty imagination. She could alter the image she had of the girl in her mind.  
“Not like Perry, but pretty,” LaFontaine said.  
“Go on,” Carmilla encouraged. She wanted to hear more. There was a smile on her face which she didn’t even realize was there.  
“She has light brown, long hair. It’s straight – but I don’t think she is.” Carmilla couldn’t help but scoff in shock.  
“LaFontaine, you don’t know that! Don’t just assume things,” Carmilla reminded them.  
“Oh trust me, she’s anything but straight. The way she was looking at you was enough to figure that part out.” Carmilla actually feared her heart might jump out of her chest. “She was all hearts-eyes for you.” Carmilla bit her lip in response to this, trying not to let it get her hopes up.

“I’ll have to see it to believe it,” she said instead. LaFontaine just continued with their description. 

“She’s slightly shorter than you, and has soft features. Unlike you, miss ‘I could cut you with my jawline’.” She elbowed them then. “I think she’s a rather happy person. She smiles easily – again unlike you, though you’re doing a good job of it now.” They were eyeing her but she couldn’t care less. She was trying to reform the image in her mind.  
“Oh go on, I want to hear more.”  
“I don’t think I have much more to tell you. I mean, I didn’t exactly think I would be interrogated by you on how she looks,” they joked. Carmilla was slightly disappointed that there wasn’t more, but remained incredibly thankful for all LaFontaine had told her up until this point.  
“You’ve gotten better at descriptions, so thanks. You’re a great friend to have by my side.” She was speaking nothing but the truth. They weren’t the type of friends to get entirely too sentimental though.  

“Oh, what would you do without me?” LaFontaine mocked, and at this they both laughed.

 

\--

 

Later that night, Carmilla walked up to LaFontaine’s room and knocked. Even though she should either be studying for her last exam, or asleep, she found herself wondering more and more about Laura. And then she’d remembered something.  
After a few knocks, LaFontaine opened their door. They looked tired, their hair sticking out in a million different directions.  
“Sorry to bother you this late, LaF.” Carmilla probably wasn’t looking all that good herself, standing there in a flannel pajama pants and a blanket thrown over her shoulders to fight the cold draft that always seemed to run through the corridors of their dorm. Before she could go on however, LaFontaine interrupted them.  
“Let me guess, you want her phone number?” She just knew LaF was leaning against their doorframe, looking all smug.

“Please?”

 

When Carmilla was back in her room, she couldn’t even think about studying or revising for her last exam. She grabbed her phone and navigated herself to a new text message. She spoke into her phone and, after checking three times if her sentence was good enough, she sent it.

 

Carmilla: “ _Hey, it’s Carmilla. If you want, I could help you out with your class. History of the Netherlands? Perhaps we could meet up at The Coffee Shop around noon? I’ll even buy you one of those amazing cookies. Let me know.”_

 

Now all she could do was wait for a reply as she lay in bed, staring into nothingness. She couldn’t see them anymore, but she still imagined she was laying underneath a beautiful night sky filled with bright stars; the way you saw them in the Pyrenees. Or in the desert. But she’d never actually been to the desert.

As Carmilla was drifting asleep, her phone vibrated on her nightstand. She was so far gone she didn’t even register it, but she screen lit up and showed one new text message from ‘Laura’.

 

Laura: “ _I’m curious to see how you can help me with my French and Dutch, but I’ll take you up on that. Especially if I get a free cookie. Thank you, Carmilla. –Laura.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it :)  
> Feedback is always appreciated.
> 
> You can find my on tumblr if you have any specific questions.  
> Caskettmyheart.tumblr.com


	7. An Informative Study Session

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m going to say this in advance: I don’t think this will be my best simply bcs something is bothering me right now and fluff may not be my strong point if I'm not feeling it. I still hope you can enjoy it and I hope I manage to write something decent. – But after The 100, which many of you probably know the events of last episode, I believe we could use the fluff.

Laura woke up way too early for her liking. She blamed her excitement. Ever since that text from Carmilla, Laura had found it hard to wipe the smile from her face. Though it was a mystery to her how Carmilla could help her with a course like History of the Netherlands. Either way, she was up now, at 7 AM and thought it best just to invest all her time into studying or preparing for her- het meetup, yeah that’s a good word, with Carmilla at the Coffee Shop.

So Laura’s morning passed by without much fuss. The only thing she did find, was that it was hard not to think about the dark brunette who sat before her yesterday. She truly was beautiful. And though she’d royally messed up their first meet, Carmilla seemed to have forgiven her already. She was still mysterious but now she at least had the chance to get to know her. And that was more than she’d had in months.

 

When it was almost time to leave, Laura packed up all of her books she’d need, plus some extra worksheets she printed out. Vocabulary and phrases she was sure she’d need. She headed out of the door half past 11 and made her way to the Coffee Shop.

Of course, it didn’t take her much more than about ten minutes in total to get there, so she was way too early for their meetup. She thought about just going to get herself something now. She walked into the warmth of the little café and looked around for a free table or booth. Seeing none in the front, she looked more towards the back and saw a familiar face sitting in the last booth.   
“Hey LaFontaine, I’m meeting up with Carmilla later and was wondering if…” It was then that she reached the booth and saw that Carmilla was sitting in the corner of the other bench. “You.” Her eyes fell on the wavy hair of the brunette and her hand motioned towards her. “Um, hi!” She felt her cheeks flush. Way to embarrass yourself further, she thought.   
“Hey,” Carmilla and LaFontaine spoke in unison. “Join us,” LaFontaine said and Carmilla patted the bunch beside her. Laura slit into the booth and dropped her bag onto the floor.   
“Wow, you brought a lot of books,” Carmilla noticed.   
“Yeah, I brought my text book, a few library books for extra info and some Vocab lists. I hope it’ll do.” Both of them were giving her this similar look. “I just really need to pass this class to keep my score up, alright?” The tone in which she said it made the friends chuckle.

“First, we’re getting drinks. Then we can think about school stuff,” Carmilla said, and LaFontaine nodded along.   
“Yeah, there’s no way you two are studying without some caffeine in your system.” They moved to get up and Laura did the same.   
“It’s my treat,” Laura spoke, grabbing her bag to get her wallet. But LaFontaine waved their hand.   
“Nah, don’t worry about it. I get a discount here, but I always tell them to keep it as a tip,” They grinned and Laura figured she’d give it another go later. Would LaFontaine still be there later or would it just be her and Carmilla? She’d expected it to just be the two of them but apparently that wasn’t the case. She wasn’t disappointed per se, just… feeling something she couldn’t quite place.

 

When LaFontaine came back, they were carrying not just three drinks, but four.   
“Are we expecting another someone to join us?” Laura asked curiously.   
“Yeah,” LaFontaine began but Carmilla continued.   
“Their other half should be joining us any minute.” Carmilla’s smirk told Laura all she needed to know. There was a thud and Carmilla let out a small gasp. “Did you really just kick me?” Carmilla mocked LaFontaine in fake anger.   
“So what if I did?” Carmilla scoffed in return and ran a hand through her hair – her beautiful wavy hair. Laura caught herself staring and looked down at the drink in her hands. She could get used to this small group of friends she had here.

 

There was a squeak of a door opening and a curly redhead walked out of the doors that led to, what Laura presumed to be, the kitchen.   
“Speak of the red-haired devil,” Carmilla said only loud enough for Laura to hear. Even if she’d said it slightly louder, LaF wouldn’t have heard. They were looking at the person walking towards their booth with a grin on their face.

“Hey, Perr!” Oh they were happy to see her that was for sure.   
“You forgot your book upstairs.” The girl Laura assumed to be Perry said. “Oh hi!” Perry directed her gaze towards the newcomer in the group, Laura.   
“Hi, I’m Laura. You must be Perry, correct?” Perry slid into the booth next to LaFontaine in the meanwhile and grabbed her drink with one hand. The other was underneath the table. Laura noticed LaFontaine had the same position, only with the opposite hand. She bit the inside of her lip to prevent her from smiling. Alright, that was too adorable.   
“That’s right,” Perry said, “I’ve seen you around a couple of times. You like the cookies?”   
Laura’s eyes went wide.   
“Like? I _love_ them!” LaFontaine seemed amused as they let out a mighty laugh. Perry smiled a polite smile and Carmilla scoffed next to her.   
“I’m glad to hear it,” she turned to LaFontaine, “We must get going, ho- um, LaF.” So it was going to be her and Carmilla alone after all. Laura’s heart skipped a beat.   
“LaFontaine checked their watch and smiled, “Right on time, too. You’re right.” They looked at Laura and Carmilla and bid them goodbye.   
“It was nice to meet you, Laura. I figure we’ll be seeing a lot of you in the future.” It wasn’t really a question more than it was a suggestion and Laura didn’t mind at all. She’d love to spend more time with this little and cozy group.

“And then there were two,” Carmilla snapped her out of her thoughts. She’d noticed Carmilla had been relatively silent all this time. She seemed okay on the outside, but what would be going on inside that head of hers? “Shall we get this show on the road?” Carmilla seemed to look her right into her eyes through the black tinted glasses of her sunglasses and it gave her chills.   
Laura cleared her throat and nodded, then caught herself once more and said, “Yeah, sure.”   


Laura slid out of the booth and packed up her bag. She slid into the other side of the booth – the side LaFontaine and Perry had just been sitting in – and put her bag in the corner. She started to pull her books out and putting them on the table.   
“So, how come you offered to help me with this subject? Are you some sort of guru in French or Dutch or something?” Laura wasn’t really paying attention to what she was suggesting and was completely taken aback by Carmilla’s serious answer.   
“Oui, j’ai habité en France depuis quelques années. En ik heb Vlaamse roots.” Carmilla said very plainly. Laura’s mouth fell to the floor.   
“Wait you’re actually fluent in French _and_ Dutch? What?” Laura just stared as Carmilla said, “Pretty much,” and grinned.   
“Alright, you’re going to have to repeat that for me in English, please?” Laura was baffled.   
“I said, in French, bien sûr, that I lived in France for a couple of years, and in Flemish that I have Flemish roots. So technically I speak Flemish, not Dutch if you want to get technical.” The way Carmilla had said it was as if she’d just relayed the events of an uneventful day to her.   
Laura was still speechless. Not only was this girl able to speak French and Flemish, she was fluent in it. With the French “R” and everything. Damn… Laura had a soft spot for French. Maybe that’s why she’d chosen the subject in the first place.   
“Hallooooo, aarde aan Laura?” Carmilla snapped her fingers in front of her face. “Shall we begin?”

 

Laura told Carmilla what she needed to know; the story of the Spanish controlling the Netherlands, which was the combination of the Netherlands and Belgium now; The story of how the tensions between the northern and the southern Netherlands rose due to differences in language, religion, culture and wealth; The story of how an actual play caused the Belgian people to fight for their independence and everything significant from that point on.   
Laura had to read French and Old Flemish texts but that wasn’t an easy task. She wasn’t sure how Carmilla could help her understanding these but she was sure going to thank any person willing to try and help her right about now.   
“That’s a lot,” Carmilla started, and Laura was afraid she was about to say she couldn’t help her with that when she continued, “But nothing I don’t know already.”

So they started with the backstory. Carmilla told Laura everything while Laura took notes. How Carmilla knew all this stuff without ever needing to think twice about a certain name or date was beyond her.

When they came to the point of language, Carmilla had an idea.   
“Why don’t you try to read me the word in French or Dutch and give me the translation and I can tell you the correct pronunciation and whatever else you need to know?” That’s the way they went with it.   
“Re- reveler?”   
“Révéler, it means to show, to let go of something. Try to get a rolling R. It’ll help you get the feeling of the French language. Oh and don’t forget the accents.” Laura took Carmilla’s advice and tried as best she could to pronounce the words with a rolling a R and the right tones for the accented letters. She got a lot better in that time they studied.   
Dutch was a different story.   
“Arde,” Laura said and Carmilla shook her head.   
“No, you have to say it with a long sound. Aaaaarde,” she was exaggerating but it seemed to be the only way to get this double vowel thing. Laura was getting oh so frustrated with herself.   
“There are just too many vowels! Why would you need a double A or IE for the E sound? Plus it’s confusing that the E is not the same. Ugh, why is this so hard?” Laura let her head fall onto the table and groaned in frustration. Carmilla couldn’t help but chuckle a bit.   
“Hey now, don’t worry about it. It’s not an easy language to learn if you’re not used to it. Calm down and get yourself something. We’ll take a break and try again in a few minutes.” Carmilla was being extremely patient with her and she couldn’t figure out how she kept her cool. Of course, Carmilla didn’t have to take the exam in less than 24 hours and she was already fluent. Maybe she should just send Laura to fill in her exam… Yeah no that wouldn’t work seeing as Carmilla couldn’t really write anymore. Or read the questions…

 

Laura left Carmilla to get in line to order a drink. She already had the order in her mind when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye that was even better than their regular cookies.   
When she got back to the table, she placed Carmilla’s cup in front of her. Just like she’d seen LaFontaine do, she wanted to reach out and guide Carmilla’s hand towards it. But she hesitated.   
“Can I – “ She didn’t have to finish her question.   
Carmilla motioned her hand in search of Laura’s and Laura took the cool hand of Carmilla in her own and guided it to the steaming cup of coffee.   
“Thanks.”   
“There’s another thing. Give me your other hand.” Laura grinned while Carmilla frowned, obviously confused.   
“You didn’t buy me a cookie, did you cookie monster?”   
Laura scoffed in response, “No!” She took Carmilla’s hand and guided it but misjudged and Carmilla’s little finger landed in the buttercreme.   
“Oops, sorry Carmilla.” But Carmilla didn’t make a fuss. Instead she brought her hand to her mouth and licked her pinky clean.   
“Mmmh, Cupcakes?”   
“Uh huh,” Laura hummed uncertain, staring at Carmilla’s lips. _Shit, stop_! She cleared her throat, “Do you like cupcakes?”   
“Oh I like cupcakes.” Carmilla smiled   
“Oh good, okay.” Laura let out a small sigh of relief. “I wasn’t sure what you liked and what not but I wanted some kind of way to repay you for helping me with this course.”

“Don’t worry about it, Cupcake.” Carmilla looked up at her and Laura’s eyes immediately sprang from Carmilla’s lips to her shaded eyes – as if she’d been caught staring. “You can always buy me sugary treats.”   
“Did you just call me cupcake?” Laura asked, blinking more than she had to while still looking at Carmilla.   
“Yup,” Carmilla sank her teeth into the cupcake and hummed. “Oh this is good.”   
“Why?” Laura only wondered. Carmilla swallowed her first bite before answering.   
“Because giving you nicknames it fun. Cutie, Cupcake… Huh, all with a C so far.”   
“What’s next? Creampuff?” Laura scoffed and crossed her arms disapprovingly. But as soon as she’d said it she knew it had been a bad thing.   
“Oh, good one, Cupcake! I like it.” And by Carmilla’s eyebrow wiggle, she knew she’d just have to accept the new sugary nicknames as a sign of their friendship. Then again, she didn’t really seem to mind them so much… It meant Carmilla associated certain things or moments with her, and that could only be a good thing, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote what I could, sorry if it's short. I might edit when I have time. Kind of packed with school and such.


	8. A Cup of Coffee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Excuse me for making you wait a day longer. I'm incredibly busy with school right now, and I had nothing until late last night. But I managed to come up with a story that could actually go on for a little longer. (I had no idea where I was going with this but now I do so yay?)  
> Enjoy!

**Chapter 8 – A hot cup of coffee**

 

Carmilla took her last exam, and LaFontaine and Laura took their own respective subjects that same day. Carmilla’s was around the same time as LaFontaine’s so they walked together. Carmilla had an adjusted exam room and time to take her exam one on one with the professor. She got to read the questions through a reader and type in answers with a computer program. Afterwards, she discussed the questions with the teacher like everyone else had to. It went well enough. She got lucky with the questions and things she’d studied. Though she had a great knowledge of the subject, there was one question she had trouble with. Oh well, it was over now anyways. The holidays could begin and she was ready to sit back and relax. Listening to her recordings and text readers was exhausting. Because she hadn’t been blind for that long – not since birth at least – her auditory memory wasn’t all adjusted. But she’d been blessed with a few good study tactics and help from the modern technology.

 

While she was exiting the building, she couldn’t help but wonder how Laura was doing, or, if she hadn’t started yet, if she was dying of nerves. She smiled at the memory of Laura trying to pronounce French words and even funnier: Flemish words. She did have a point though, there were a lot of vowels in the Dutch language.

 

She got to her home in time to make herself some lunch. The entire time that she was making her own sandwich, she was debating whether or not she should send Laura a message. She should just send her a message with good luck for her exam, or wouldn’t that do her any good? Perhaps she should just ask Laura how it had been. But then it’d seem like she hadn’t listened when Laura had told her the time of the exam yesterday during their … study session. She froze as she realized she was almost going to say date. No, it had not been a date. On a date, Carmilla would have taken Laura out somewhere, or bought her something like ice cream – though it was way too cold for that now. This had just been two friends helping each other out. Were they really friends already? The answer was lost to her.

Eventually she just snatched her phone from its place on the side table next to the couch and swiftly sent Laura a good luck message. She wasn’t sure she wanted Laura to see it before the exam, or after it was already over. Hopefully she would think it to be considerate. Yeah, that would be nice…

 

Carmilla took the time to relax, to listen to some audiobooks while fighting off sleep, and to catch up on some TV series. It wasn’t nearly as much fun as it used to be – when she still had her vision – but she just couldn’t stop her investment in some of the shows she used to watch. Others, she’d long since forgotten.

When it was nearing four o’clock, she was listening to one of her favorite audiobooks once more as the soothing voice lulled her to sleep. She had given up on staying awake, wanting to catch up on some sleep she missed due to studying the weeks before. But her phone received a message and caused her to jerk awake. Carmilla groaned and ran a hand through her wavy hair. She’d been very comfortable. But the sender of the message was more than worth a text to wake her up.

 

                Cookie Monster: _Thank you, Carmilla. That’s really sweet! It went well, but still doubted a few things._

Carmilla just smiled at the message and bit her lip in a move to suppress it. Then she decided to try her luck.

 

                Carmilla: _Want to meet up over coffee? I could use the stress relief after these past few weeks._

 

Would that sound too much like she was proposing a date? She wasn’t sure if she wanted it to sound like that or not. She wondered how Laura would respond. Maybe she already had plans, or just didn’t want to hang out with the blind girl. She didn’t have to wonder much longer though. It didn’t take Laura long to respond.

 

                Cookie Monster: _OMG yes! That sounds great. How about I meet you there in ten? My treat._

 

Carmilla smiled, all worry forgotten. She got up immediately and snatched the sunglasses from where she placed them last and put them on. She continued by grabbing her jacket while sending Laura another text. There was absolutely no way that she was going to let Laura pay this time.

               

Carmilla _: I can’t have you pay all the time, Cupcake._

 

                Cookie Monster: _Are you still calling me sugary treats? My name is Laura, you know XP_   


If it weren’t for the smiley, Carmilla would have feared her getting offended. That was the last thing she wanted, to upset Laura. But she was grinning now, and before she knew it, she sent the next message.

 

                Carmilla: _Oh, is it really? I hadn’t really noticed. My head hurt a bit the first time we met. I wonder how that could be…_

 

Alright, not one of her best, but it would have to do. She grabbed her cane and let it unfold. She grabbed her keys and locked the door behind her.

 

                Cookie Monster: _It was an accident! I told you I was sorry_ _L_ _._

 

Oh god, she’s so adorable, Carmilla thought to herself as she walked along the way to the Coffee Shop. She had to put away her phone to make sure no one snatched it out of her hand – believe it or not that had happened before – and hoped Laura would forgive the wait as she made her way along the blocks.

 

She was greeted by the warm scent of pastries and coffee as the glass door to the shop opened. She moved her cane sideways, trying not to trip over anyone’s feet. It was a busy day, she figured by the sound of many voices chattering away and more than one barista standing behind the counter. She’d just make her way over to her regular booth, hope it was empty and take a seat to wait for Laura. That had been the plan. With an emphasis on _had_. The second she wanted to turn into the longer side of the hall to go to the kitchen, bathrooms and the booth in the back, some very hot liquid touched her chest and drenched her shirt. Her hands flew to her chest and grasped at it to peel the shirt off of her skin. Her cane dropped to the floor as the handle wasn’t tied around her wrist.   
“What the fuck!” she yelped. The shop quieted down in a heartbeat. Carmilla felt all eyes on her. She couldn’t help the swearing as she felt the extremely hot liquid irritate her skin. Before she could start to yell at whoever was the cause of this mess, a familiar voice spoke up. It was the voice that made her blood run cold.

“Oh. Carmilla,” The voice spoke in recognition, “I didn’t mean to…” The voice was as soft as it had been back then. But the difference between now and then was that it didn’t sooth her anymore, or enchant her. Instead, it irritated her down to her very bones.   
“Save it. I don’t want to know.” She snapped right at her face, annoyed at herself for remembering their exact height difference. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat as the images of the girl popped up in her mind. She was growing frustrated with herself. She couldn’t move from her spot, but she wanted to get to the bathroom as soon as possible. Her cane was somewhere on the floor and she’d be damned if she was going to be humiliated by crawling on the floor looking for it. So instead, she kept her chin up high and looked right at her without really seeing her. The doorbell rang and new people came in who were just going to watch along with the rest as this ordeal played out. Some were going back to chatting, but many were still watching.

  
The other woman lowered her voice.   
“Milla, I’m sorry.” The worst thing wasn’t this situation or the drenched shirt. The worst thing about all this was that there was genuine regret in the familiar voice and Carmilla was sure it was not just about the coffee.

“Don’t. Don’t call me that, _Eleanor_.” She took a deep breath. As much as she had felt in the past, and would probably still feel in the future, she had to lock it away for now.

“Carmilla? What happened to you?” And right then, she let out a relaxed sigh, being absolutely delighted a third party joined in. She turned, facing a, what she imagined to be, surprised Laura. Her coffee stained shirt being no doubt a marvelous sight. She heard her cane being snatched off the ground and felt a hand reaching for her arm. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” Without another word to Eleanor, Carmilla was swept away from the middle of the shop by Laura, leading her straight to the ladies room.   
“Did she do that on purpose?” She found Laura’s concern sweet. But in all honesty, she could only shrug.   
“I don’t know.” Carmilla sighed as she folded her cane and put it on the washing table. “I wouldn’t put it past her though, but I don’t think she did.”   
“You know her then?”

“You didn’t listen to our conversation?” This made her feel relieved somehow, knowing Laura hadn’t just been watching like the other people in the shop.   
“No, I just walked in and saw you standing there with your cane in a puddle of coffee.” Carmilla put her bag on the ground and took off her jacket. If her jacket had been closed, she wouldn’t have had to deal with this shit. She’d only put on a jacket over her shirt. Now she had nothing to wear underneath it. “Are you okay?” Maybe it seemed like a stupid question but Carmilla liked the fact Laura actually took the time to ask.

“No. Well, besides the ruined shirt and the bruised ego, I’ll be fine.” She started taking off her shirt but stopped midway. She let it fall back down and turned to Laura, who was washing the coffee off of her cane in the meantime.

“Do you have something I could wear? I mean, it only has to be for a like ten minutes. We could go back to my place and I could give it back to you there.”   
“Oh yeah sure. I’m wearing a top and checked shirt. I am fine with the top alone. You can borrow my shirt.” Outwards, she just thanked Laura. But on the inside, her heart fluttered.

 

She pulled her shirt off, trying not to let the sunglasses slid off her nose but she had no luck. They fell on the floor and before she could reach for them, Laura had already crouched and picked them up. Carmilla was crouched right in front of her, shirtless and squeezing her eyes shut tight. She expected Laura to ask why she did that, or to see her eyes. But instead, she felt the two arms of the sunglasses move towards her ears and hair. Before she knew it, it was back in place and she could relax again. Slowly, she stood up, unsure of what to say or how to react.

  
“Hold out your arm,” Laura asked in a soft tone. Carmilla wordlessly followed her instruction. A sleeve was slid over her arm and the weight of the shirt hung at her shoulder. She took over and dressed herself into Laura’s shirt. She felt around for the buttons but they were tiny and it wasn’t one of her usual shirts. Her brow furrowed as she focused on getting them right.

Once she was done, Laura still not saying anything but waiting for her, she looked up as if watching herself in the mirror.   
“Thank you,” she sincerely said. And she didn’t just mean for the shirt. “Thank you for helping me back there.”

Laura shrugged in response and took a step closer to Carmilla.   
“You don’t have to thank me for doing a normal thing.” There was a tiny hint of a smile on Laura’s lips, but her voice was calm and sincere.   
“Tell that to everyone else just watching me,” she scoffed.   
Laura shook her head.   
“No, Carmilla. They weren’t watching you.” Carmilla rolled her eyes.   
“Yeah sure.”   
“No, I’m serious. They were watching that girl, looking to see what she would do, I guess.” Carmilla was honestly surprised by this. She didn’t think it was like that at all. “Besides, there were a few people getting up to help and one was already coming over with something to clean the floor.”   
Carmilla shook her head lightly, “I can’t believe I didn’t notice.”   
“It doesn’t matter,” Laura smiled.

 

There was a beat of silence. Then Carmilla heard Laura chuckle.   
“You missed a button.” There was a ruffle of material and then, “Can I?”

Carmilla just nodded and let Laura handle it. It was different, having someone new not constantly ask her questions about being blind, or her eyes. And asking if they could help instead of just offering unneeded help was something she really appreciated. Plus, this new found closeness to Laura was something she was more than comfortable with.   
“Come on, let’s get you a good cup of coffee and let me tell you about all the difficult questions I got.” Laura handed Carmilla all of her stuff and put Carmilla’s hand right above her elbow to guide Carmilla into the booth. Needless to say they spent the entire afternoon talking.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay for fluff and understanding
> 
> To Eleanor, I hope you don't mind me using your name in this ;)  
> It's a beautiful one.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for not updating two weeks ago. It was something in this story that made my inspiration halt. I was on easter break, and had a lot of things to do.   
> I promise I did write though. I'm working on a new story, for Clexa, and an unpublished one which I'm trying to write entirely before posting it. (So I don't have to make you all wait for weeks on end - seriously it's like my only talent)
> 
> Anyways, enjoy.

**Chapter 9**

 

“I can’t believe they actually asked you to translate an entire text,” Carmilla said before sipping from her coffee. They just got themselves a second round of coffee – which was technically a third for Carmilla – and Carmilla bought Laura a cupcake while she took a cookie.   
“I know right! It was so difficult. But I do think I got most of it right.” Laura took a bite from her cupcake, and from the sound of it, it was a delicious one.   
“Is it good?” Carmilla asked, and she got a muffled ‘uh huh’ as response. She chuckled as she imagined the girl in her mind. Perhaps she could ask Laura to describe herself to her. But that would be kind of awkward, wouldn’t it? She’d never really asked anyone that before. She’d known what LaFontaine looked like, and they’d given her a perfect – and by perfect she meant incredibly detailed – description of Perry. She hadn’t minded the first time. Nor had she the second.

“What flavor is it this time?” She asked the other woman sitting opposite her.   
“Open your mouth,” Laura spoke, still munching on what Carmilla guessed to be a way too big bite. Carmilla obliged, yet remained hesitant. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to push the buttercream up your nose or anything. I’m giving you a perfect piece with a bit of stuffing, cake, and buttercream.”   
Carmilla waited and sensed Laura’s hand nearing her mouth. Her heart skipped as Laura’s fingers brushed against her lips. It was unavoidable really, and Laura must have known it, so it made her heart flutter even more.   
She was wearing the girl’s shirt, was being fed a cupcake by her – which she would have otherwise protested – and had spent hours talking to her. That, on top of the fact that there would be no school for two weeks, meant that life was good now. She didn’t particularly like the holidays, but she did enjoy the days off that came along with them.  

“Mhh, that is really delicious.” She liked her lips, enjoying every little bit of the bite of cupcake. “Not that I doubted it.” For a moment, there was no response. “Um Laura?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, sorry, I um. I zoned out for a moment.” Okay, that was weird. But maybe Laura was just tired. Taking an exam could have that effect on someone.

“If you want to go home and take a nap, I don’t blame you. I’m pretty beat after these exams too,” she suggested. “And it’s getting pretty late.” She didn’t really want to part from the girl but figured Laura needed to get home soon anyways. The evening was soon approaching and she would no doubt have plans to celebrate the end of the exam series with friends.   
“No, I’m good. All this coffee keeps me up. If you need to get home, I’ll walk with you?” That actually wasn’t such a bad idea.   
“Yeah, that’s a deal. I mean, I have to change and give you this shirt back. Or do you want me to wash it for you?” Carmilla drank the last of her coffee and grabbed her cane from the place she left it on the bench beside her. She put it in her bag, since Laura was going to walk with her, she felt like she wouldn’t immediately need it.   
“Don’t be silly. It’s not like you’re a dirty slob. I’m going to do a bunch of washing when I get home, I’ll just wash it then.” She heard Laura moving to get up too.   
“Oh so you’re going home for the holidays?” Carmilla can’t honestly say she was happy to hear that. It was to be expected of course. She was one of the few staying on campus. She wasn’t sure why she was surprised to hear this news.   
“Of course. I can’t wait to see my dad. I do enjoy the time away, but I miss him too.” Laura took her hand and placed it on her arm. “Aren’t you going home for the holidays?”   
“I’m not very keen on the celebration of it all.” Carmilla shook her head while she said it, not really wanting to point out that, though she wasn’t going to her family, she would be spending the holidays at home. It would probably be the saddest thing to tell Laura, so she didn’t. Instead, she let herself be lead out of the shop. She told Laura how to get to her dorm, saying when to turn and which direction they should follow.

When they got up to her door, Carmilla grabbed her keys and let Laura in. She wasn’t sure how it would look to Laura, seeing a way too neat and clean apartment. If an object wasn’t in its place, she would have to spend time to find it and she didn’t have the patience for it. So instead, she’d assigned everything its own place, and kept it there. Which, in LaFontaine’s words, had resulted in an unnaturally tidy dorm. Especially for a dorm. But Carmilla liked it that way. It had taken some getting used to, since she used to be a real slob when it came to cleaning. But then again, she had to get use to many things when she lost her vision.

“Wow, you’re place is…” Laura paused and Carmilla heard the negative remark hanging in the air, but none followed, “so cool. Much more spacious than my room.” She seemed to look around, and Carmilla was confused. No remark on how unnatural it felt, or how colors were undoubtedly mismatching. She preferred picking materials on their feeling over their color. Her silence seemed to last a little too long, so she sighed in slightly content way.   
“It’s spacious for a dorm, and it’s got everything I need. I could be off much worse.”   
“Carmilla, my place is an old shoebox compared to yours.” This made her crack a smile, something she caught herself doing quite a lot around Laura.   
“Do you want anything to drink?” She wasn’t sure why she offered, but she didn’t really want Laura to just go already.   
Laura chuckled, “Carmilla, we just had three cups of coffee. I think I’m good for now.” She heard her walking around the apartment and left her to look around. It wasn’t like there were any pictures Laura wasn’t allowed to see.   
“I’m just going to change, I’ll be right back.” She said, to which Laura hummed in response. She walked into her bedroom and opened the right drawer to get herself a new shirt. While she was at it, she decided that she could change into sweatpants to get comfortable. She wasn’t really planning on going out again today.

She walked back into the living room and luckily, Laura announced herself to her before she had to ask where the girl was. She didn’t want to trip over her legs again.   
“I’m on the couch,” Laura said, hearing the girl move slightly in her seat, “I didn’t want to snoop around.”   
Carmilla, unsure of what to do next, made her way over to her couch and took the TV remote from its place. “When do you leave?” she asked hesitantly. She was rather enjoying not being alone. Moreover, she was enjoying Laura’s company. Now that she finally had it, she didn’t want to lose it after dreaming of it for all those months on the steps.   
“Oh, well I’m supposed to leave in a few days. So I’ve got time to relax before I have to pack. If that’s okay with you, of course,” Laura added quickly. Carmilla internally smiled, but kept cool on the outside.   
“Yeah, I’d like that.”

So, Carmilla put on a movie and taught Laura how the audio transcription helped her understand what’s going on, and how she would miss some important information if it didn’t exist.   
“I guess I never realized how much information is gathered from vision alone.” Laura was listening closely to Carmilla’s statements of how the world is for her without vision. Though it wasn’t a lot Carmilla was giving away, every bit was as interesting as the next.   
“I get it,” Carmilla started, talking over the audio of the movie, “I didn’t really realize it either before I lost it.” The melancholy feeling of the ‘good old days’ engulfed her before she could think twice about it. She remembered the sadness she felt those first few days, months, and still felt even now.   
“Sorry to bring it up,” Laura sounded much more hesitant than before, “I didn’t mean to bring back any sad memories.”   
“It’s not your fault,” Carmilla gave a small smile in her general direction, hoping she was actually watching her to see she meant it. “Life is unfair and it’s no one’s fault. It just kinda sucks.” With Laura’s chuckle in response, she had conformation that the girl’s spirits had lifted a bit.

Their attention turned back to the movie, but not for long. They commented on a few things happening, laughing and joking around before Carmilla got curious about Laura and her story. She wasn’t sure she would be sharing anything herself, but she couldn’t help her curiosity. She knew it wasn’t fair, but she was going to ask anyway.   
“So, you’re going to see your dad. You have a good relationship with him?”   
“Oh yeah,” She could heard the smile in Laura’s voice, “Dad and I have always gotten along. When we were little, we used to make roll cake for Christmas together, and we try to keep that tradition alive. We can eat from it for like a week, and we gain like five kilograms over the holidays, but all the good food he makes is totally worth it. Plus, spending time with him in the kitchen is one of those simple but timeless things that never really changes. No matter how little we get to do it nowadays.”   
Laura was silent for a while, and seemed to be turned away from her as she pondered over a thought.   
“Laura?” Carmilla asked after a moment, reaching sideways to get her true attention. “Are you okay?” Laura had uttered those same words to her only hours ago.   
A hum from Laura told her she’d zoned out for a moment. “Oh, yeah I’m okay. Just… thinking about stuff.” Laura put her hand on top of hers and it warmed Carmilla’s heart. Even the slightest touch of this girl was enough to completely enchant her, even though Laura was obviously upset by something. So Carmilla made herself focus on what was important now, which was making sure Laura was okay.   
“That seems to be a reoccurring theme today.” It had been a weird day. The last exam, the interaction with Eleanor, the coffee ‘date’… Carmilla had gone through a variety of emotions today, and it seemed Laura was experiencing the exact same thing. “It really is time for a much needed break.”   
“From school, yeah. But not necessarily from the people here at Silas.” Laura put her second hand on top of Carmilla’s and gave her a smile. Registering that Carmilla wouldn’t be able to see, she blushed slightly as her smile, “I’m smiling too, by the way.” Carmilla snorted and actually full on laughed at her. Laura frowned, “Hey! What’s so funny?”   
Carmilla calmed down and said amused, “I can hear it in your voice. I don’t need to see your beautiful smile to know its there.”   
“Oh.”   
“Yeah,” Carmilla chuckled, and it was the most beautiful sound Laura had ever heard. “But thanks for the laugh.”   
Laura let go of Carmilla’s hands and teasingly hit her arm, making disapproving sounds.   
“You could have told me that sooner.” She pouted a little, but didn’t sound upset at all.   
“I was wondering how long it would take you to say something like that. I’m honestly surprised you didn’t do it sooner. Like saying you’re nodding.” Okay, so it wasn’t something she’d actually thought of before, but now that she knew the girl a tiny bit better, it was something she’d totally expect from Laura.   
“Now I’m really glad I didn’t make a fool of myself before now,” Laura sighed. She’d forgotten all about her sadness from just moments before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Perhaps you noticed I wasn't really feeling it ? If you did, don't hesitate to let me know. I know it's not a very good chapter, or a long one. I'll try to make it better next time.


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